Last night’s ceremony, which aired live from 8 PM – 11:54 PM EST, averaged 26.5 million viewers (Live+same day) . That was down -19% from last year’s 32.9 million viewers, a nine-year low.

The Oscar ratings doom and gloom was foreshadowed by the first numbers to come in this morning. The ceremony drew a paltry 18.9 Live+Same Day rating in the metered market households, an all-time low and down 16% from last year’s 22.4 rating, which was a nine-year low. The metered market total, which did not include ratings for the Boston TV market due to the severe weather conditions there, was well below the previous Oscars low ratings point, logged with the 2008 telecast (21.9), hosted by Jon Stewart, when No Country For Old Men won Best Picture.

The drop is big — the Oscars had never fallen below 32 million viewers and 21 metered markets household rating before, forcing pundits to scratch their heads. One explanation — the Oscars rubber stamped winners who already had swept the awards shows that preceded it, making for one of the most predictable Academy Awards ceremony in years. Some pointed to the length of the show, which again flirted with the 4-hour mark, others to the ubiquitous montages, the overall modest box-office performance of the movies nominated for best picture and the injection of politics/social issues into the speeches. However, most if not all of these factors were also present the last couple of years when the numbers were higher. And the Oscars’ strongest competition, AMC’s The Walking Dead, was actually a more potent ratings performer in years past.

Bashing Trump is just flat out bad TV. I could see, perhaps in theory, how a leftist could enjoy it for a few days or even a few weeks, but we're going on two years now of the same crap over and over again.